Lola

My friend Brian got a bunny named Lola.  I love her, even though she pooped on me!

Trinidad, California // Car Adventures

The other day my friends and I went on a drive and found this wonderful vista point.  We were driving along the coast in Trinidad and just decided to park at this random turnout.  It had a little path which lead from the turnout to  a rock that jetted about 500ft into the ocean. It was really cool to be up so high and have waves crashing all around you.  Plus it was absolutely gorgeous even with the misty rain coming down.

I really love finding places like this in my own backyard.  No one has to travel hundreds of miles to find something exciting or beautiful.  If you look hard enough or just travel outside of you're comfort zone, you'll find something amazing. I used to be frustrated by living three hours from a decent mall or movie theatre but recently I've accepted that certain entertainments are not available where I live and I need to appreciate the ones I do have, namely nature.  

Now that I'm looking at where I will live next year for college, the idea of being away from the ocean worries me.  I go to the beach at least twice a month and drive past the bay every single day.  Living in a non-coastal town will be different, to say the least, but I want to make sure I appreciate the ocean while I have it.

 

2013 Recap

2013 was a long year....

In January I painted my room making it a place I enjoy living in and I spent hours in a room for my Biology group 4 project.  It made us closer but we went a little insane and started checking the ducts for dead bodies. To be fair there was blood everywhere.
Posts: Car Adventures, Upgrading Is Compulsory

In February, I took a 6 hour round-trip road trip with my friends to explore Bridgeville.  I also visited went to the local zoo.  And, of course, a lot of school work.

In March I spent a lot of time exploring Humboldt County.  I went on hikes with my dogs, visited various beaches, went to a cemetery, and went to school tennis games.  I even found my favorite place in Humboldt! (the 4th picture).  All this exploration made me feel more comfortable in my hometown.  I also dyed my hair and of course, visited Redding for Easter.

Posts: Ferndale Cemetary

My adventuring continued in April as my friends began to say "A Pirate Who Falls Behind Is Left Behind".  We had an Easter Egg Hunt for ourselves, went on a lone camping trip, and, of course, went to the beach some more.

May, the month of IB tests but also the month of freedom.  Our tests were the only homework we had so this month was full of ditching and relaxing in the sun in preparation, or avoidance, of our tests.  This month was full of mini-adventures and sunshine.  There was also Cotillion and the Junior IB Theatre play (Candide). I hope May 2014 is as much fun. 

Posts: Like A Child, Kinetic Sculpture Race

In June, I became a senior.  I bonded with my friends with more adventures to the river and a Zoo.  I also traveled to Michigan to meet extended family members and visit colleges.  I also read The Brothers Karamazov for school but that was the only downside in an amazing month.

Posts: Ocean World, UC Santa Barbara, Marshall Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, Local Sand Sculptures

July was a very chill month.  I finished painting the other half of my room, went camping with my Dad (where we tried to burn everything.  FYI graham cracker's have amazing longevity), and, most importantly, flew to Boston to hang out with friends for a week.

Posts: Richardson Grove, BostonCon

August was a perfect month of relaxation before school started.  August began in LA with VidCon and college tours.  I visited UCLA and UCSD.  At VidCon I saw We The Kings and many others perform live with my good friends Emily and Olivia.  After VidCon, I went to Disneyland with my cousins, an experience I want to repeat.  Once back home, I went to the Humboldt County Fair mostly just to watch the horse races! I can't wait to bet on them this year.

Posts: VidCon 

September, the dreaded return of school.  Besides the constant thought of college, it actually wasn't too bad.  The annual trip to Ashland was fantastic and the sun stuck around.

Along with the colder months came more homework and college essays.  Thankfully, there was fun interspersed.  My school took a trip to the pumpkin patch and the opera house, also my friends and I occupied ourselves with kittens and hidden views.

I turned in 5 college applications this month.  Figures crossed that next May I get 5 acceptances!! I also went to Fern Canyon to help my friend's photo shoot for IB art, traveled to San Francisco again for Day of the Dead, traveled to Redding again for Thanksgiving, and participated in my high school's Halloween House.

Finally we have December.  It's been really good. I've been able to connect with my family more with the holidays and my birthday.   I also got an iPhone which has upped my selfie-taking considerably.  The horribly freezing weather has stopped a lot of adventuring but we've had a lot of fun indoors.

Posts: Christmas Tag

All in all, 2013 was wonderful.  While it was, in the big picture, only an interim year with no major life stepping stones, 2013 was full of good memories.  This past year I feel that I have begun to feel more comfortable in my own skin and this has allowed me to for closer bonds with my friends and family.  It's easy to forget what happens in your own life.  Looking back at my 2013 today has made me realize that the little adventures do count.  Getting out of my house and having fun with my friends is what made this year great.  I can't wait to continue that in 2014 with the added adventure of college! I will keep you informed, probably.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Lazy Sunday

After almost 4 weeks of nonstop social weekends, it's really nice to sit at home with a cup of iced chai and try to knock out some homework. With college essays, my TOK essay, and my EE all breathing down my neck, I need all the time I can get.  Unfortunately, having all this time makes me spend time procrastinating in the strangest ways.  Most people scroll through tumblr or watch a show on netflix.  Not me.  I clean my room, wash my bedding and read a novel about wall street corruption.  I call it healthy procrastination.  I have also convinced myself that sitting down to do homework is unhealthy so I've taken to passing my room while reading my English books and standing and typing papers. My legs hurt a little after two day so it must be working.  It's really nice to get away from people and spend some quality time with my family.  However, I'm sure that by the end of this weekend, my parents will be annoying me and I'll crave my friends again.

BostonCon 2013

You do not know this, but I have made wonderful internet friends in the 5ish years I've been on the internet.  We met way back in 2009 on a forum for younger people attending a Harry Potter Convention called Infinitus summer of 2010.  We were all under 18 at this point, my parents were sincerely worried that one of them would turn out to be a pervert and rape us all.  Needless to say, all of us were legitimate and 4 years later we still interact with one another on a daily basis.

This may be the only group photo...

Having met-up at various conventions over the years, we were disappointed that there would be no convention this summer.  Yes, LeakyCon was happening but since it was in Portland when most of them live on the east coast, it was impossible.  Then, Grace offered up her house in Westport, Massachusetts for a week so we all booked some plane tickets and arrived on her doorstep a couple months later.

I'm not even slightly exaggerating, this is all we did and it was amazing

I was at Grace's house for a week and frankly we didn't do much.  We saw This Is The End in theaters, played Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets for X-Box 3 times, and ate a package of cookies every night. But some days were packed.  On several occasions all 7 of us packed into a mini cooper and went on an adventure.  We visited Providence, RI twice and we drove to Grace's boarding school one day.

Mom, Dad and the kids!

On some day, we needed to pick up Victoria from Boston, however Rob, Kate and I opted to visit the beach.  First things first, east coast beaches are not the same.  First, they're PRIVATE! Who has private beaches? In Westport we had to visit the beach via Grace's club and when I accidentally walked too far, on to private property, I was glared at. What? You can walk however far you want to on a California beach, I've never seen a private CA beach outside of Malibu.  Second, the water was really warm for a gloomy day. The Pacific is never warm.  Third, the waves were so much smaller.  Now, I don't know if this is a fact, but I've grown up on the Pacific where you don't trust the ocean.  You have to pay attention to the waves otherwise you risk being swept away to your death.  This isn't true with the Atlantic.  The waves were calm, tiny and worrisome. It's just strange. Finally, they left us there for a good 5 hours. Friendship!

Rob heroically walking into the waves.

All in all, it was a beautiful week that we're already planning to recreate next summer.  I'm really thankful for all the wonderful trips I've had this summer. At the end of my junior year, I was stressed and the next school year was not welcome.  Now, looking at my last 3 weeks of freedom, I actually can't wait to go back.  I know it will be hard but I also know that I have so many great memories to look back on and smile.

Having met via Harry we had to stop when we saw him painted on a window, it's only natural!

National Student Leadership Conference

Last summer a went to a student conference for Intelligence and National Security in Washington DC through the National Student Leadership Conference.  This is a program for teens entering junior or senior year the following fall.  I went the summer before my junior year and while most of the students were a year older then me it was one of the best experiences I've had.  

The National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) has been around for over 20 years and offers students experience on a college campus, leadership skills, information on a chosen topic, and time to explore the area around you.  I experienced all that plus fun and friendship which made it all the better.

College Experience

Every NSLC event occurs on a college campus.  I stayed at American University in Washington DC.  Our food was provided by the college so we got real experience with dorm food, it wasn't too bad.  We were also given a schedule and allowed to wonder around the campus as we pleased, as long as we were at the right activities at the right time.  This allowed me to explore the campus and play a game of soccer with some of the boys during my visit.  This time at AU has helped me decide what I want in a college campus, like large dorm rooms!

Leadership Skills

Every night, after dinner we would all gather in a lecture hall to learn about leadership.  What it means to be a leader, different personality types, and how to work together.  These lectures really turned us from about 100 individual teenagers into one cohesive unit that could work together.  If there is one thing this conference taught me it was how to work together on a common goal.  That has to be a helpful quality!

Information

I went to the NSLC event for intelligence and national security where the main focus was on the US Government's National Security Council.  We even had a mock council. They separated all of the students into different teams and assigned them different roles (I was the Director of Intelligence) with one college student as the president.  We were then informed of a Security Crisis and chose how to fix it.  I have to gloat that my group kicked some serious butt! Our president never walked out on us in anger, no fictional citizens died, and we did not go to war with Iraq.  Couldn't have been better. I don't know what happens at other conferences but I had a great time learning about national security.

Site-Seeing

Another amazing attribute of this program is the to see the sights.  During my stay in DC, the program took us to all the monuments, the Smithsonian, Arlington, The National Mall, International Spy Museum, the CIA, the Pentagon, and to a ropes climbing course. So many amazing opportunities.  I loved each of these trips away from the university campus.  We saw all the national monuments in the dark which I thought made them more powerful.  We were allowed to wonder around most of these stops on our own which allowed for even more friendship building. The most amazing trip was to the CIA.  I still can't believe that I've been there.

Sorry for the long post guys but I really wanted to illustrate all the great things that happened to me through this program.  If you're high school aged and receive a letter in the mail from NSCL, I highly suggest taking this opportunity if you can!

Ocean World // Car Adventures

Yesterday, I went on a road trip with some friends up to Crescent City.  My friend Dana had never visited the aquarium up there called Ocean World, so we decided to head up there!

The highlight of the trip was definitely the seal/sea lion show. Everyone had broad grins and the girls definitely squeed a few times.

Look at how cute that is! You can't say no to those faces.

This is the laziest seal I have ever seen.  I swear she only moved a foot the entire time we were there.

There was also a tide pool.  Growing up on the coast, we were all very familiar with tide pools. However, I don't think there I will ever not want to hold a starfish in my hand.

Velvet Starfish.  This is my favorite Starfish ever they're just so soft!

The underside of a starfish, in case you were wondering.

Now onto the actual aquarium part.  It's rather small but stuffed full of sharks and stingrays.  Our tour guide scared the crap out of us by explaining how many sharks live in our local ocean.  Apparently there are quite a few Great Whites! I'm not surfing anytime soon.  The small ones were pretty cute though.

Leopard Shark

Stingray! Aren't they cute! The also feel awesome if you ever have that opportunity.

 Finally, we were able to touch some sharks! Weirdly enough these sharks actually wanted to be petted.  The two leopard sharks, the long ones along the edge, kept coming up to us.  The sharks felt like sandpaper if sandpaper was alive.  I always thought they would be soft and kinda velvety like velvet starfish but nope.

 Ocean World was definitely worth the almost 4 hour round trip drive. Amazingly it only cost us $10 to do all of this!  Next time you happen to be on the northcoast of California, ahahahaha never, I'd suggest a stop.  The whole trip took about 45 min.